Health Update: Pro-inflammatory Diet May Worsen Arthritis and Pain
Hello everyone:
As science progresses, we are learning a lot about how our bodies work. As you know, it is my mantra that inflammation causes, perpetuates, and/or aggravates every known human condition, including how well and how fast or slow we age (yes, I am talking to YOU!). Here is an interesting study about knee arthritis and how an inflammatory diet can be associated with increased pain and a more severe joint destructive trajectory over your lifetime:
“Conclusion: A proinflammatory diet, as indicated by a higher DII score, may be associated with a greater pain score and higher risk of more severe pain trajectory over 10 years. However, inconsistent findings related to structural changes suggest a discordance between the potential impact of diet on structural damage and pain in knee OA.”
https://acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.25307
Bottom Line:
Consuming a lower or anti-inflammatory diet can have a positive impact on your healthspan, lifespan, aging profile, as well as how fast or slow our joints degenerate. In their paper, they state “that inflammation has emerged as an important factor in the progression and pathology of knee osteoarthritis.”
Additionally, they state that: The DII scores were developed using peer-reviewed articles by assigning a score to each food component that has been found to have robust evidence for its ability to influence systemic inflammation.11, 12 Numerous studies have explored the connections between DII scores and various diseases, revealing that higher scores are linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease,13 cancer,14 and osteoporosis and fracture.12 High DII scores, associated with higher intakes of food groups including fats, oils, sweets and sodas, meat, fish, poultry, beans and eggs, and lower intakes of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, are associated with a greater prevalence of radiographic symptomatic KOA and knee pain.15, 16Previous meta-analyses have indicated that high DII components, such as processed meat and sugar, were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and higher consumption of red and processed meat, high-salt foods, and alcoholic drinks has been linked to a greater risk of colorectal and stomach cancer.17, 18
If you want to be as healthy as possible, have the best life possible, feel and look your best, then it may be a really great idea to eat a low inflammatory diet. Friends don’t let friends eat that ‘stuff’. Now that you know, what will you do? How will you use this information to guide your lifestyle choices?
